On Top of the World
by 2theSky
Summary: Set just after "Grounded". Beck gets a break- finally!- from training and goes with Zed and Mara to the club. And knowing this trio, their conversations can only be centered around one topic: the Renegade.


******"I coulda gave up then, but then again I couldn't have 'cause I've traveled all this way for something. Now take it in but don't look down... 'cause I'm on top of the world..." -Imagine Dragons "On Top of the World"**

* * *

"Finally!" Mara grinned as she slid into the booth after Zed, Beck sliding in the other side, returning the smile. "We're all here together. And," she glanced around quickly before adding, "no overload of Occupation soldiers."

Beck's brown eyes flashed with the memory of the last time they'd been at the club; the walls were flashing to the music in the same pattern as they had when Hopper was arrested for being the Renegade.

That whole situation had been a little too close for comfort.

Zed slowly slid his arm behind Mara's shoulders on the back of the reflective and smooth booth seat, only to have her roll her eyes and shove it back to his side the nanocycle his arm made contact with her back. "Seriously though, what went over in Able's office?" he asked.

Beck's eyes widened only for a nanocycle, then returned to normal. "Uh, well…"

"Zed's right. You went in looking like you were gonna get derezzed and walked out grinning, like you were ecstatic. What happened?!"

"I-"

Zed nodded at Mara's comment, cutting Beck off, as a program walked over with three tall glasses of energy, balancing them on a neon green tray that matched her secondary circuits. "You looked like you were intoxicated, Beck," he said jokingly and yet seriously, "I mean, what did Able do? Give you the highest concentration energy and make you loopy?"

Beck rolled his eyes, feeling his cheeks get the slightest tinge of red as the server's green-streaked black hair whirled around her face as she overheard Zed's newest comment. All the garage knew the situation with Able and getting grounded; he didn't need the rumor going around that he was getting drunk off of energy with a nasty spike from being so highly concentrated. "No, n-nothing like that," he said quickly, hesitantly picking up his glass of energy and turning the liquid around in it in a spiral as he swirled the glass in his pale fingers. "It just went over… it went over a lot better than I expected it to, that's all."

Zed smirked and reached over the table to punch him in the shoulder. "Whatever you say, Beck. But just so you know, the whole garage thinks you're high or something."

"High?!" Beck was shocked. True, he'd heard of the newest "code expanding" drug… it was, strangely, a ground powder from residue building up in different parts of lightcycle engines. And it was incredibly addictive, but he'd never seen it, let alone used it! "I don't use that stuff! That's-"

"We BOTH know you wouldn't," Mara cut in, smiling, then throwing a glare at Zed, "but half the garage thinks you WOULD."

Great…

"So now I'm drunk and high…" Beck sighed. "Does Able know?"

"Know what? That you're an addict?" Zed snorted, showing he was kidding entirely.

Beck shook his head, his blue circuits pulsing as he took a swig of energy, feeling more awake as the gulp of glowing liquid slid down his throat. "No, about the rumors."

Zed and Mara nodded in sync.

"Well… what did he say?"

Both quickly grabbed up their drinks, gulping down the shiny liquid.

Beck watched them both, slightly amused that their attempts to not answer and nervous about what Able had said… "Well?"

Still downing the energy.

The song changed, blasting incredibly loudly as the first note of a new song started, causing Zed to jump and start choking. Mara paid him no mind, just kept her glass pressed to her grey lips.

Beck sighed. "Okay, so now that you're choking to death, are you gonna tell me or not?"

Mara sighed too and finally had to admit defeat, putting down her empty glass. "Fine… Zed, you wanna tell him?"

"Kinda… choking here," he gasped, clutching his chest as he got his breath back. "You… tell… him."

"Fine." Mara took a deep breath. "He…" she trailed off, biting her lip and looking at Beck sheepishly.

Beck motioned for her to continue, picking up his own glass and staring at the contents as he slowly raised it to his lips, waiting for the response.

"He said that whatever you do in your spare time is up to you."

Beck spit the energy out, hitting the flashing pink and green wall right by him. It would've been an amazing spit take, even in his eyes, if he hadn't wanted to know what on the blasted Grid had compelled Able to say that. "He… he WHAT?!"

The server from before returned, eyeing Beck strangely as he wiped the energy off his chin that was dribbling down it. She set down three more glasses of energy and walked away quite quickly, like she was terrified. Beck shrugged, not able to blame her.

"We know you aren't," Zed said as soon as he finally could breathe normally. "But Dash and Copper and Li-"

"It's fine," Mara cut off the goofball, and bitbrain, who tried for the second time to sneak his arm around her shoulders.

And… failed for the second time.

Beck snickered as Zed rubbed his arm from the punch he got. "I know…"

"But where do you go? I mean, it's only natural for programs to think you're out doing something illegal or getting a…"

Beck zoned out at that point. Well… they weren't wrong in their theory about his actions being illegal.

"… you're the renegade!"

Beck jumped at that, practically hitting the ceiling. "What?!"

Zed laughed, punching the table. "Oh my word… you shoulda seen your face!"

Beck stared at Mara as she tried not to laugh. "What? You zoned out, so Zed figured he'd say 'Beck's the Renegade!' and see if you'd return to the conversation."

Beck shook his head. "Sorry, I'm just worn out."

Zed and Mara shrugged it off. "No problem. So…" Zed picked up a second glass of energy. "…where DO you go if you're not trying to feed some bitbrained habit?"

Beck stammered for a nanocycle, trying to think up something believable. "I… I'm-"

"Did you get another job?" Mara asked, leaning on the table with her crossed arms.

"Did you get a girlfriend?" Zed fired next, resting his elbow dangerously close to his glass of energy.

"Are you involved in something illegal?

"Did you get sent to the Games or something?"

"Did you get arrested? Are you hiding from the Occupation or avo-"

"No, no, NO, NO, and NO!" Beck answered quickly, hoping his friends hadn't caught his lies; he couldn't risk them finding anything out.

Mara frowned. "Then… what are you doing?"

"I know!" Zed snapped his fingers and pointed at Beck face, his finger only and inch away. "He's the dealer behind the drug deals! He gets the stuff together and organizes teams to deliver it-"

"Move your hand, or I'll cut it off," Beck growled, not really angry, but wanting to get Zed to drop the 'you're either drunk or high' topic. "So…" he really needed to get his mind off the topic at hand. "I heard we have new equipment coming in. When's that?"

Zed laughed. "You wanna know which cycle so you can skip out?"

Beck glared at Zed's hand, which hadn't moved. "Move. The. Hand."

Slowly, Zed pulled his hand away. "Tomorrow," he deadpanned.

Mara shook her head. "Yep, a new lift, more wrenches- how do all the ones we give Link go missing?!- and a new laser for the welder. Finally… it took forever to get a new one shipped from Purgos."

Laser? Oh… Beck covered his momentary confusion by gulping down some of his drink.

At least they were off the subject of where he went when he wasn't at work.

Thankfully.

"Yeah, I can't believe the Renegade destroyed it," Zed commented, scowling at his reflection in the table.

"True…" Mara shrugged. "But the Occupation was involved, too."

Zed scoffed at that, his eyes rolling like a loose pipe rolling across the garage floor. "It was more that Tron- wannabe."

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was!"

"Was not, Zed!"

"Was too, Mara!"

"Was-"

"Ha," Beck laughed, quickly covering his mouth; watching his friends bicker like this was fun… why weren't they dating already? With the way they fought over the Renegade, anyone would've thought they'd been together for decacycles and decacycles.

The two stopped, faces slightly painted with blushes. "Well, what do YOU think, Beck?" Mara asked.

Zed's eyes had some strange spark in them that Beck immediately noticed as he chimed in, "Yeah… what do you think?"

Beck shrugged and laughed nervously, stalling. Zed knew he wasn't there when the Renegade fought Pavel and the garage was nearly destroyed… "I'm not sure yet. I mean he might be Tron-"

Mara elbowed Zed in the shoulder, making him grunt.

"-or he might not-"

Zed elbowed Mara in return.

"-but I really don't know."

Both friends were a mix of happy and angered; so Beck didn't really support either side, but yet he did? What was he saying?! "So…" Zed awkwardly tried to figure the whole thing out, pink lights on the walls mixing with blue and turning his twisted-in-thought face purple, which didn't help at all. "You're a neutral?"

Beck nodded. "Basically…" Truly, he wasn't lying. He didn't know what to think of himself half the time. And sometimes the Renegade was Tron and other times- the majority of times- it was him behind the mask.

A mask that got him shot at.

A mask that warranted his arrest.

A mask that almost got him killed every time he left it slide up over his face.

Zed shrugged at something Mara had asked while Beck zoned out again. "I just don't understand how you can run around in that white! i mean, it's like making yourself a target and screaming 'hey Tesler, come and shoot me!' That white suit isn't subtle."

"It's TRON," Mara objected, slightly thumping her balled fist on the table. "He doesn't need to be subtle."

"But white?! Couldn't the suit be, oh I don't know, BLACK?"

"Basic black…" Mara rolled her eyes. "You want Tron, the hero of the Grid, in basic black?! The white makes him look powerful… and a little more handsome." Handsome?! Beck shook his head, still deep in thought and only picking up a few words here or there. "What?!" he heard Zed exclaim, but nothing after that. "How would you know if he's handsome- unless you count no eyes, no nose, no mouth and only a blank black face plate as handsome?!"

"He's Tron, Zed. I'm pretty sure he's not some ugly nutcase."

"Hey, Beck…" Zed wanted a second opinion- hopefully. "… do you think the Renegade's handsome under that mask of his?"

"Huh?" Beck snapped back to reality. "Uh, yeah, sure…" he mumbled, not sure what he was answering.

"Really?! BECK!"

"What?" Beck's innocence and incredulous look proved he hadn't been listening and Mara giggled.

Zed hit his head off the table once, twice, and once more, before saying, "Beck, the Renegade's handsome now? What, have you seen him?"

Beck did NOT like what was being implied by Zed's tone. "What- no! I just spaced out… " he picked up a second glass of energy and drained half of it in one gulp. "Haven't… been getting enough energy lately."

"If you've been hanging out with a maskless Renegade enough to know he's handsome-"

"That isn't what I meant!" Beck, exasperated, threw his head back and banged it off the booth's top, not even wincing. "I'm just worn out and lost focus."

"Oh…" Zed cleared his throat. "Nevermind then… but if you really meant that answer, how would you know if he's handsome or not?! That's… just creepy to think about."

Mara signalled the server to bring another round of drinks, slightly concerned for Beck; he was a little paler than usual… "Well, not really. I mean, his mask could get shattered in a fight and someone see him-"

"Not likely," muttered Zed as the third tray was brought over and the now six empty glasses removed.

"-or," Mara continued as if she was never cut off. "someone could catch him taking off the mask when he just doesn't want it on-"

"That's lame."

"-but wearing that thing over your face all the time can't be comfortable!"

Beck shifted uncomfortably, not aware of the fact that he was blushing, his cheeks a bright, though still pale, red. The mask was a nightmare! But sitting here while his friends talked about him…

unnerving…

No, that wasn't even close.

His blush deepened as Mara proceeded to gaze off into the distance, at something nonexistent… Beck couldn't stop his mind from piecing together that she was probably staring at some invisible Renegade, and probably also imagining just what would've made him so handsome, his face excluded…

Zed sighed and smirked. "So you like the guy for being some handsome thing body-wise, but what if he's hideous behind the mask?"

Beck drummed his fingers on the booth seat, trying desperately to put out the fire in his cheeks and failing as it spread to his ears. The only good thing he was hearing was that if Mara thought the Renegade was hot stuff… maybe more girls did, too…

"Focus," he muttered to himself, fighting the urge to face palm.

"And he's just so…" Mara stopped, her eyes widening a nanocycle as she took in Beck's bright red face. "Beck?"

Beck just made eye contact and sat up at the sound of his name. "Yeah?"

"Are you alright? You look really flushed…"

Zed nodded, frowning. "You don't look good," he agreed. "You okay?"

Beck nodded, grinning. "Yeah. It's just a little…a little hot in here."

"Well, let's get some fresh air then!" Mara exclaimed, grinning. "We can go to the park, or we can walk back to the garage."

Beck and Zed shrugged, choosing to head back to the garage- Beck saying so because the walk would be better than toying with certain recognition if he threw his disc around with his friends at the park… his skills were a blessing and a curse! Zed agreed mainly because Beck was still red.

Bright.

RED.

On the way back, conversation steered around a few jokes, a few moments of pure and perfect silence, and an anecdote or two, or five, from the times Beck wasn't at work.

The time Mara had to work with Link and he accidentally rewrote a lightcycle code to make it a bomb. It fell over, hitting a chain of parked and repaired lightcycles, the first acting as a catalyst as it exploded, then the next one, and the next one, until all ten were nothing but pixels.

The time Zed, Dash and Copper were sent on an errand and were almost jumped by a gang. Emphasis on almost. They were all amateurs, brand new programs with a fresh attitude, and they wound up running as soon as the three mechanics- none of which were at all scared… they had a story to retell, and their honest fear at the laughable situation could be left out conveniently - drew their discs.

The time Able came back from an errand with a Grid bug playing follow-the-leader and a new mechanic freaked, trying to smack it with her own baton and wound up with a head injury from chasing it under a swinging tank arm.

And the time-

"Bit!" Mara grinned up at the floating Bit from the garage as it flashed a quick "yes!" in greeting. "You wanna walk back to Able's with us?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Bit signalled, floating between Beck's shoulder and Mara's.

Beck smiled. "Hey Bit. Haven't seen you in a while.

The "yes!" that resounded was somewhat mournful at Beck's statement.

Beck sighed as they kept walking. "I'm sorry. I missed you. You know that."

Bit was incredibly attached to Able, and especially Mara, and also Zed and Beck. Bit flashed a "no!" then "yes!" at Beck's statement.

"What does that mean?" Zed wondered aloud, confused at Bit's reaction.

Beck froze momentarily. Bit had been floating around outside the garage when he left Link there. He'd-

Bit knew. He'd seen Beck change from ordinary mechanic to extraordinary Renegade.

Mara smirked evilly. "Hey, let's see what Bit thinks."

"About what?" Beck asked, watching Bit for any signs of betrayal.

"If he thinks the Renegade is handsome! What else?" Mara's declaration was firm and determined and Beck couldn't do thing one to stop her. "So, Bit, is he?"

Bit hesitated, then flashed "yes!".

Zed groaned and smacked his forehead. "And now Bit's not on my side! Seriously, you've never seen his FACE!"

To that, Bit flashed a loud "no!", startling several other civilian programs.

Mara frowned. "Wait… Bit, have you seen the Renegade?"

"Yes!"

"…without his mask?"

"… Yes-No! Yes! ...No!"

Beck felt his face heat up again. Bit was trying to cover up the truth… how sweet.

But honestly, he wasn't doing too great a job.

"Bit…" Zed started talking slowly, hoping to get a straight answer. "Have you seen the Renegade without a mask?"

"Yes!"

"Okay. Now…" Zed's sigh showed that he clearly felt stupid asking this, "is he handsome?"

Bit hesitated, then flashed a "yes!"

Well, that was somewhat comforting for Beck's self-esteem. Or at least it would've been- Beck was too busy trying to not blush.

"Is… is he Tron?"

To that, Bit flashed a "yes!", which surprised Beck.

Bit… had lied?!

Wait… technically Bit wasn't lying. Beck had said he was Tron, and with the suit he definitely looked like Tron… oh well. He wasn't' figuring it out now- his head hurt too badly from all the coding flowing inside him rushing to his head and back out so quickly and so many times.

Zed's eyes grew as wide as a disc, then snapped back to normal as he grumbled, "He still stole my bike."

"Yes!"

Mara laughed. "Okay, I think we're all tired. Let's just get back. Tonight was great, though. I mean, we actually got to hang out again!"

Beck smiled. He'd actually enjoyed himself. "Yeah, we did…" he suddenly wondered something. "Hey, Bit?"

Bit floated in front of Beck's face, waiting for the question.

"Did Able start the rumors about me? About the energy and-"

"No! No! No! No!"

Beck's lip twisted in thought. "Did he tell you to tell me that if I asked?"

"… Yes!"

Busted.

* * *

_-the only real reason i rated this "T" was because of originally mentioning the possibility of programs getting drunk or high. it was just a safety thing. (in my other stories, and in general, i'd really like to think programs couldn't get drunk on the Grid, so highly concentrated energy isn't the problem- it would need to be, for lack of a better word, spiked.)_

_sorry for any typos. :(_

_have a great day or night- idk what time it is where you are, so...- and God bless! :)_


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